Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams have something in common right now: they do not play many tournaments.
However, Naomi and Serena are in different stages of their career. The 23-time slam champion has to preserve her body for being 100% ready for the slams. In addition, Serena wants to spend as much time as she can with her daughter Olympia. On the other side, Naomi has recently stated that she doesn’t like to play many tournaments because she feels homesick and can get burned out very easily.
During a recent press conference in Miami, Naomi revealed:
“I don’t really play that many tournaments, but, yeah, I think for me just playing, I guess, playing on the tour for a while, I have sort of learned what works for me.
I have always noticed that I’m not the type of player that really needs that many tournaments to feel a groove. In fact, I sort of started feeling like it was the opposite. I would get kind of burned out more quickly if I played more tournaments. So, yeah, I think that’s the reason why I play the schedule that I play now.”
Naomi will play her next tournament in Madrid in three weeks’ time (26th of April). She hit the headlines for canceling her participation in Stuttgart, the tournament that will take place right before Madrid.
Naomi Osaka in 2021
At the moment ranked no.2, Naomi played her last match on the 31st of March when she was defeated by world no.25 Maria Sakkari 6-0 6-4 in the quarter in Miami (draw).
Until now, during this year Osaka owns a 12-1 record. Osaka has won 1 title at the Australian Open.
Serena Williams in 2021
Currently the world no.7, Serena Williams played her last match on the 18th of February when she was defeated by world no.2 Naomi Osaka 6-3 6-4 in the semifinal of the Australian Open (draw).
This season Serena Williams has managed to achieve an overall 8-1 win-loss record. Serena Williams’s best result of the present year was getting to the semifinal in Melbourne and at the Australian Open.
Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams played each other 4 times. Their head to head is 3-1 for Osaka. The last time they played each other, Naomi Osaka won 6-3 6-4 in the semifinal in Melbourne (Australian Open) on the 18th of February 2021.
In the following video you can watch the highlights.
Naomi Osaka |
| Embed from Getty Images |